New car safety ratings

ANCAP test results arm consumers with information about the level of occupant protection that vehicles provide in serious front and side crashes, adopting testing protocols from the European equivalent, EuroNCAP. The EuroNCAP results should only be used as a guide, however, as the structure and equipment of European models may differ from that of the Australian models.
    
New car crash testing is carried out in Australia, the US, Japan and Europe, and simulates different crash scenarios. The four tests currently carried out to give the occupant protection score are:

• Frontal offset crash
• Side impact crash
• Pole test
• Advanced seatbelt warning system

What's new: latest results 

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Australia’s cheapest car - the Chinese-made Chery J1 - only receives three stars for occupant protection. In the side impact crash test there was a high risk of life-threatening chest injury for the driver. It features only two airbags, lacks electronic stability control (ESC) and joins other Chinese-made vehicles like those from Great Wall Motors that have scored poorly.

The Australian-made Toyota Camry and Toyota Camry Hybrid have upgraded from a four-star rating to five after making production changes earlier in the year. Thumbs up also goes to the Subaru Impreza - the first tested by ANCAP to achieve the highest four-star rating for pedestrian protection.

From July 2011, Commonwealth fleet passenger cars purchased must have a five-star rating. Corporate fleet purchases represent half of all new vehicle sales in Australia which impacts on the production of vehicles. By upping the requirements in this sector there’ll be a flow on effect in private vehicles as well.

What happened in May 2011?

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The latest “green” vehicle to hit the market, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, received a four-star rating. While this wasn’t a bad performance, many light and small cars are now achieving five stars, and ANCAP urges manufacturers of fuel-efficient cars to also strive for top safety ratings.

Of the four utility vehicles on test, only the Ford Falcon Ute received the five-star rating, with the remaining vehicles only receiving three. Passenger compartments for the Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol lost structural integrity, while the Ssangyong Actyon Sports Ute was let down by its offset crash result. Protection from serious leg injury for the driver was also poor.

What happened in August 2010?

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Great Wall Motor's SA220 and V240 dual cabs scored poorly for occupant protection, when they were tested in September 2009, lacking what should be standard safety features. Some months later, however, the Great Wall Motor X240 four-wheel drive (4WD) received a four-star safety rating. Dual front airbags and antilock brakes (ABS) with electronic brake distribution (EBD) - features missing from the SA220 dual cab - are now standard in this model.

The structure and restraint systems in the 4WD performed much better in this round of crash testing. The X240 missed out on the five-star rating as it doesn't come with electronic stability control (ESC), which has been mandatory to achieve full marks since 2008. The X240 was at the bottom for safety among other four-wheel drives, but overall it was encouraging to see Great Wall Motor making improvements.

Australia's first hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, has a five-star ANCAP rating. In our previous update, however, the Toyota Camry Hybrid only scored a four-star safety rating - the same result as the Camry tested by ANCAP in 2007, suggesting no improvements were made to achieve the highest score. The Camry Hybrid comes with ESC, which would have made it eligible for the five-star rating, but the crash tests showed vulnerability to injury of the driver's knees. The Camry Hybrid also has no passenger seatbelt reminder - a feature now standard in Commodores and Falcons.

Braking systems

Antilock brakes (ABS) operate during heavy braking and on slippery roads, to stop the wheels from locking up. ABS allows the driver to steer and gain control of the car without skidding or spinning out of control. It is also referred to as ALB.

Electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) helps to balance braking forces between the front and rear wheels. It varies the amount of force which is applied to individual brakes, taking into account road conditions, speed, load and other factors.

Traction control prevents wheel spin and maintains vehicle stability during acceleration, when too much power is applied. It is particularly useful during wet conditions, when the road is slippery or when rapid acceleration is required.

Electronic stability control (ESC) builds on ABS, EBD and traction control, and also works to control loss of traction during cornering. It is an advanced technology aimed at preventing crashes and providing help when turning under particularly hazardous conditions. ESC compares the driver's steering wheel position to the direction of travel of the vehicle. When a difference is detected by the system, ESC intervenes to independently apply the brakes to individual wheels. This allows the driver to maintain control of the vehicle. ESC is also referred to as:

• Electronic stability program
• Vehicle stability control
• Dynamic stability control
• Vehicle stability assist

Other safety features

Seat belt pretensioners tighten up any slack in the belt webbing in the event of a crash. This helps to hold the occupant secure and move them into the optimum crash position.

Active head restraints are situated on the head rest of the seat and during a rear-end crash move forward and up to automatically decrease the space between the restraint and the occupant's head. This reduces the degree to which the head accelerates before making contact with the restraint.

Seat belt reminders are visual and/or audible warning devices used to alert vehicle occupants that a seat belt is not being worn. 

Three-point seat belts are one single continuous length of webbing that spreads the impact forces more evenly across the passenger's torso and helps to keep the upper body in place in the event of a collision.

Airbags are large nylon bags that inflate and deflate rapidly in the event of a severe frontal or side crash. Sensors are fitted at different points of the car and detect when a crash occurs. When the sensors all agree that the airbags should be deployed the system triggers an inflator and igniter unit. The airbags inflate, splitting open the covers on the steering wheel or dash board, causing them to balloon in front of the occupant. As the occupant's head strikes the airbag, it starts deflating. Vehicles can come with, front, side, head and knee airbags.

Hybrid technology

Hybrid cars use a conventional petrol engine with an additional electric power plant. They're designed to be more fuel-efficient while still providing the performance and efficiency of a petrol-fuelled car. Hybrids are most efficient in city driving situations; at low speeds the petrol engine stops and the battery kicks in to keep the car running. On the open road, the difference between hybrid and petrol-fuelled cars is not as noticeable. The petrol engine on a hybrid will shut down if you're travelling downhill on freeways and open roads; however, a hybrid acts like any other car when travelling uphill. 

ANCAP testing is internationally recognised and undertaken in an independent test laboratory. The two main crash tests are offset frontal and side impact, with a score of up to 16 points allocated to each. An additional five bonus points are available for a pole test (two points) and assessing seatbelt warning systems (three points). Overall, a maximum of 37 points is available, which we converted to a percentage to give the occupant protection rating in our results table. It's important to note that crash test results are only comparable for vehicles within the same category.

• Frontal offset crash simulates crashing into another car. The car is crashed at 64km/h into a fixed barrier with a crushable aluminium face. Only 40% of the car's front on the driver's side makes initial contact with the barrier.
• Side impact crash simulates a similar situation to an intersection crash, where one car crashes into the driver's side of another. A 950kg trolley with a crushable aluminium face is run into the driver's side of the stationary test car at 50km/h. As well as the driver crash test dummy, an 18-month-old and a three-year-old child dummy are put in the back seats in appropriate child car restraints.
• Pole test simulates a vehicle crashing into a fixed object at 29km/h with contact in the line of the seated driver. Models with head airbags are eligible for this additional test. Cars with a low risk of head injury obtain two additional points for this test.
• Advanced seatbelt warning system awards up to three additional points for models with seatbelt reminders. One point is awarded each for a driver reminder, a front passenger reminder and a reminder for all rear seat passengers.
• Pedestrian protection test is a separate test scored out of a total of 36 points. The score is converted to give the pedestrian protection rating in the results table. It gives an estimation of head and leg injuries to pedestrians hit by a car travelling at 40km/h.